SEABURY BLAIR JR. | Perusing the future of outdoors gear

Whenever I’m looking for the four-one-one on a nifty outdoor product, the first place I visit is the Gear Junkie (www.gearjunkie.com).

So when I read an Associated Press story a couple of weeks ago that noted wool was the hot fabric at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City, I thought I’d check it out with the Gear Junkie. Turns out nothing made of wool made Gear Junkie’s list of 21 top new products at the show.

Buyers representing outdoor recreation retailers throughout North America visit the Winter Market to ogle the new gear and try out snowshoes and skis at a nearby wintersports area. I visited the event a couple of years ago, along with about 15,000 other folks.

My seatmate on the way to Salt Lake City was a buyer from an Olympia outdoor retailer who appeared to suffer from narcolepsy. He dozed off in mid-sentence as the plane took off, and once airborne, he woke up to complete the sentence.

He did the same thing when we landed. I worried that I had become even more boring than I thought.

Anyway, Gear Junkie has nothing to say about wool, while the Associated Press drooled about the itchy, scratchy fabric. I’m guessing many senior citizens know that wool is a gift from sheep, one of only about three fabrics I can think of that aren’t made from plastic soda bottles.

Back in the dark ages, wool was the choice of mountaineers and other outdoorsfolk because it retained its warmth even when wet. Those of us who couldn’t stand the stuff next to our skin almost preferred freezing or drowning.

Instead of wool, Gear Junkie was impressed with a pair of snowshoes that weigh a little more than 1.5 pounds, a pair of gloves that weigh one ounce and a 12.3-ounce sleeping bag. While you’ll save plenty of weight with those items, the prices are pretty heavy.

The snowshoes: $249, or $10.38 per ounce. The gloves: $57.

The manufacturer hadn’t put a retail price on the sleeping bag yet. But you can guess — since it’s filled with 850-power goose down — you could probably buy a new Toyota for less money.

One of Gear Junkie’s choices I hope doesn’t become too popular is a pack that allows tablet users to access a touchscreen without taking it from the pack. It’ll be like drivers with cell phones: hikers stepping off cliffs or walking into grizzly bears while texting.

Some of the truly strange items Gear Junkie mentioned were hiking boots with different snap-on soles for varying traction requirements, and shoes with separate pockets for your big toe. There was a sleeping bag that’s supposed to keep you warm to minus 40 degrees.

Some of you know I’m a sucker for backpacking tents. I’ve trimmed my collection down to four, but it looks like the Gear Junkie found one I’ve got to have — as soon as I win the lottery.

It’s a 1.9-pound, 29 square-foot tent which is supposed to house two adult backpackers and some of their gear. Carbon fiber poles support the single-wall shelter and it is said to stand up to 80 mile-per-hour winds.